Nursery news week beg. 26 March

Another busy week at the nursery especially with the hot, sunny weather.  Sun tan lotion and sunglasses have re-appeared for the first time this year!  Plants have been gasping and so watering has been high on the agenda this week both inside and out.  Hand watering and the sprinklers have been in operation.  Lots of plants are growing well in the shade area.  A good time to be looking out for plants for those shady areas in your gardens.  Brunnera (illustrated) give good value with attractive leaves after their flowers have finished.  Epimediums(shown below right) are just starting to push up their flowers and all the Corydalis are looking attractive with their delicate feathery foliage and blue/purple flowers.

On Tuesday we had our RHS event entitled Help!  Where do I fit it in?  We were thrilled to welcome 45 people to this event and many positive comments were made.  Bob split the morning into sections so that information and tips were given with some slides as illustrations as to how to make the most use of each planting space.  Climbing plants & wall shrubs, including fruit, were suggested for wall and fence boundaries then moving into different areas of the garden and thinking about different times of year.

Audience participation was invited to help plan/design a small garden that was sunny and well-drained.  This was followed by groups working together to design their own gardens and everyone was so involved I had to call a halt at 1 o'clock for lunch!

The Barnhaven primroses(Spice Shades illus.) are looking superb at the moment.  Prunus 'Kojo-no-mai', the dwarf cherry, are covered in white blossom.  We have one in our garden and it has been in for a number of years yet is still only about 3' - 4' (90 - 120cm tall).  Ours is planted at the top and back of the rockery creating a lovely focal point at this time of year.  We have just put out some patio Clematis at the nursery that are ideal to grow in pots and containers.  They flower all summer if regularly deadheaded.  I might plant one of these to grow through the cherry so that there is interest in the summer.